|
The majority of the family maintained the
original spelling of Knappenberger.
There are over 300
Knappenbergers listed in United States phone directories.
Some variations of the name have occurred over the years.
KNUPPENBURG/KNUPPENBERG FAMILY
Philip Adam Knappenberger (son of J. Erhard Knappenberger,
immigrant) had a
son Adam Knuppenburg born 17 May 1794 in Carbon County,
PA who married Eunice Allen. He was listed
as living in Luzerne County (which later became Wyoming County, PA) in the 1840
census. At that time in the census, the name was spelled
Knappenberger. Adam's Family Bible shows the last name spelled as KNUPPENBURGER but Adam's family
eventually shortened it to Knuppenburg. This family spread across the country from Pennsylvania
to New York to Michigan to North Dakota and Washington.
Some family members have also spelled the name as KNUPPENBERG.
KNEPPENBERGER FAMILY
Adam Kneppenberger with his wife Catherine Meyer, daughter
of Leonard Mayer/Meyer and Anna Maria Bader (born 10 February 1727/1728), is
listed in "Colonial Men and Times" by Lillie DuPuy Van Culin
Harper (Philadelphia/1916). Catherine Mayer is mentioned in
her father's will of 1810 in Northampton County, PA. This Adam
is John Adam Knappenberger who moved his family to New York in 1808
and shortened the name to Knappenberg. In addition, a Daniel Kneppenberger is listed in the 1850
census for Washington Township, Lehigh County, PA.
Also a Herman Rudolph Kneppenberger family is listed in
the 1850 census for Somerset County, PA. Herman Rudolph is listed as age 52 and born in
Germany together with his wife Mary Elizabeth, age 51, and their children Meana, age
17;
William, age 15; Eliza, age 11; and Mary, age 6. Eliza (Elizabeth)
later married J.C. Martens in 1858 when she was 19 and died 21 April 1875. No connection has been made with this family since
Herman Rudolph was born in Germany according to the census.
In addition, it seems that some records in Berks County,
PA list Harvey J. Knappenberger's (born 1869) last name as Kneppenberger
- when his first wife, Gertrude Bickel Knappenberger, died on 6 May 1904,
and his marriage record for his second wife, Sallie, in 1906. Both
spell his
last name as Kneppenberger. However, his children's last names were
spelled and remain spelled as Knappenberger. This was probably a
misreading of handwriting.
There are no listings for a KNEPPENBERGER family in
today's telephone directories in the United States. Therefore,
no family members officially changed their spelling to Kneppenberger but
it was just a misread/misspelling at various times in various records.
KNAPPENBERG FAMILY of Livingston County,
New York
John Adam Knappenberg (1769-1830), son of Johan Henrich
(Henry) Knappenberger (1744-1818) and grandson of J. Michael Knappenberger (immigrant)
moved his family to Sparta, Livingston County, New York prior to 1810.
John Adam married Mary Katherine Moyer (1771-1852) and had 10 children.
John Adam was the one who changed the spelling of the name and this family has
maintained the spelling of Knappenberg (no "er"). Click on John Adam's
name above to see the Henry B. Knappenberg family homestead in West
Sparta, New York!
KNAPPENBERG (isolated incidents)
Herbert Clinton
Knappenberg (1888-1962) of Seneca County, Ohio dropped the final "er" in the spelling of his last name.
This is an isolated incident because Herbert had only five daughters
- hence no one to continue the spelling. Herbert's linage is as follows: Johan
Erhard (1704-1776), Philip Frederick
(1738-1829), Jonathan (1787-1850), Abraham (1823-1884), Gustavus H. (1853-1920).
Fred L. Knappenberg (February
1861- prior to 1930) of Colorado dropped the final "er" in the
spelling of his last name. It seems that his son, Fred L.
Knappenberg of Santa Barbara, California (1904-1932) also dropped the
"er". But since the younger Fred had a daughter, Corlyss
Mae, it seems that this spelling ended with this generation.
KNAPPENBURGER FAMILY of
Scioto County, Ohio
Jacob Knappenberger (1814-1898) was the son of John
Knappenberger (Westmoreland County, PA) and grandson of Conrad Knappenberger
(Westmoreland County, PA) and great-grandson of J. Michael Knappenberger (immigrant). After
moving to Ohio and West Virginia, Jacob's family seemingly changed the spelling - this
was not a formal change but "burger" was used by him on a number
of official documents (including Civil War records and census data). One
of Jacob's sons, Solomon Holt (1859-1946), maintained the spelling of
"burger". Likewise, Solomon Holt's two sons, Lester
Thurman (1883-1979) and Ernest Glintworth (1889-1961) also continued the spelling of "burger". The Knappenburgers of today are descendants of Lester and Ernest who maintained the
Knappenburger spelling.
KNAPENBERGER FAMILY of Cattaraugus County, New York
Jesse Knapenberger (1852-1927) of Clarion County, Pennsylvania seems to
have been the one to drop the one "p". Jesse was the youngest
son of Daniel Knappenberger (1799-1882) who moved his family from Westmoreland
County to Clarion County in the 1820s. Daniel was a son of John
Knappenberger and grandson of Conrad Knappenberger and great-grandson of J.
Michael Knappenberger (immigrant). This family has maintained the
spelling with one "p" and is located primarily in northwestern
Pennsylvania and southwestern New York state.
KNAPENBERGER (isolated incident)
Earl Bright Knapenberger
(1908-1981) of Albert (1887-?) of Henry Clay (1846-1932) of John (1809-1885)
of J Philip (1783-1867) of Conrad (1748-1818) of Johan Michael
(immigrant), also spelled his
last name with one "p" - according to his social security application.
Earl Bright is a one person anomaly. He was raised by his maternal
grandparents in Westmoreland County, PA and, therefore, probably had
little to no contact with the Knappenberger Family of Armstrong County,
PA. He moved to North Carolina, married Thelma Ward, and seems
to not have had any children - thus the single "p" spelling
begins and ends with him.
KNAPP FAMILY of Trumbull County, Ohio
From Dorothy Worman's book written
in 1990 we learned of a family in Ohio that had shortened the name to
Knapp. She provided a quote from the Macungie Progress
newspaper of 21 September 1905 as follows: "Frank Knapp, of
Warren, Ohio, is visiting relatives hereabouts. He is the son of
William Knappenberger who owned the farm west of town, now in the
possession of Jacob and Charles Neumoyer. Mr. Knappenberger moved to
Ohio many years ago. His name was curtailed to Knapp and there his
son Frank was born." This William is the son
of Jonathan Knappenberger (1801-1884) and grandson of Johan
Philip Knappenberger (1776-1851). In the 1880 census,
the family name is listed as Knapp. However, the 1920 and 1930
census lists the family name as Knappenberger. But Frank
Knapp(enberger)'s wife, Flora's name was listed as Flora W. KNAPP on her
death certificate in 1960. But since Frank and Flora had no
children, the changing of the name ended with their deaths.
KNAPP FAMILY of Missouri /Illinois/Indiana
Eli Ransom Knappenberger and Mary Rosella Knappenberger were the children of Jonathan
Knappenberger (1827-1866) of Tuscarawas County, Ohio and grandchildren of J.
Philip Knappenberger (1783-1867). Jonathan died at a young
age leaving a widow, Lavina [maiden name Swartz]. Lavina
moved to Missouri where she was remarried to Thomas
Cavanaugh. In the 1880 census for St. Joseph,
Buchanan County, Missouri, these two Knappenberger children appear - but
their last names have been shortened to Knapp. E. R. Knapp married Georgia Streeter and had moved to Hobart, Indiana by 1930.
Mary Rosella
married Charles Fenguay but died prior to 1900 and had two
children. Eli Ransom Knapp changed his name to E.R.
Knapp and then to Edward Ransom Knapp, the name he used when he married
Georgia Streeter as well as the name under which he was buried in 1932.
OTHER KNAPP FAMILIES
The Knapp family of the United States is a separate
family.
However, there is a belief that George William Knapp of
Dauphin County, PA may in fact be George Knappenberger born 14 January 1816 in
Lehigh County, PA. George was a son of Henry
Knappenberger, Jr. (1781-1833). George Knapp married
Sophia KOONS/KUHNS and had three children. Click on the name
above to link to this family's web page.
KNOPENBERGER
The Penn Forest Twp., Carbon
County, PA Knappenberger family spelled their last name as "Knopenberger"
at the beginning of the 1900's. The Drake's Creek School in 1913
listed 10 Knopenberger children in that school with Emma Snyder as their
teacher. These children were Alice, Mamie, Laura, Verna,
Violet, Arthur, Chester, Clinton, Kervin and
Kenneth. Thanks to Gene
Knappenberger for sharing a copy of the booklet from this school.
MISSPELLINGS
The name has been misspelled over the years in various records
including census records. When doing research, consider all the ways you have seen it
misspelled including no "K" or even Kanppenberger or Knabbenburger,
Knoppenberger, Knutemburg, Knaffenberger, etc. When checking the social security death index and 1910
census on the internet, you will need to drop the
final "r" because it only recognizes 12 letters.
For more interesting information about the spelling variations of
German names,
visit Charles Kerchner's site at:
18TH
CENTURY PENNSYLVANIAN GERMAN NAME SPELLING
Another great site by Charles Kerchner discusses
German nicknames
such as Sally and Sarah for the given name of Salome, go
to:
18TH
CENTURY PENNSYLVANIAN GERMAN NICKNAMES
|